Port Hedland

Fri 27^th June 

A ship laden with ore leaving the dock.

Jan & George’s freezer stopped chilling overnight and some of the meats etc. were thawing. Luckily we weren’t using our other fridge, so were able to fit some of their stuff in it. We went into Port Hedland to the information centre to try to find a fridge mechanic – there wasn’t much joy at first, but eventually they found someone who blew out the pipes and re-gassed it for $300+ (they really know how to charge up here – an average house costs in excess of $600,000 and rents are sky high. We saw an ad for house and land packages starting at $650,000). While Jan and George were mucking around trying to get help, we sat in a park down by the water’s edge and watched a big ship being loaded and then manoeuvred out of the dock by three tugboats. It was a lovely little park with a little kids’ playground at one end and tables and chairs dotted around under gazebos. There were a lot of young mums with their tots, a few dads and some oldies like us. As we were leaving the park a young Thai lady approached me and asked if she could pick some of the leaves and flowers off the cassia tree near us. She and her husband had just moved here because he works in the mines. She uses the cassia leaves and flowers in Thai curries. She said if they are boiled and then the juice squeezed out and boiled again three more time, the liquid from the last time is good for stomach ailments. I think that’s what she said; she didn’t know the word for the ailment it cures but pointed to her stomach and said, “Medicine.” The local caravan park cost about $50 so we went to South Hedland and found one a little less flash for $44. We spent the rest of the day getting rid of the dust and getting the washing done. There wasn’t a problem sweeping the red dust out the door because it just blended in with the red dirt we were camped on.

The salt works on the edge of town

Sat 28^th June

Although Jan and George’s freezer isn’t working properly they have been able to temporarily solve their problem until they can get to a big enough place to get proper service and advice. In the morning Mick did some washing and hung it out. From start to dry only took about an hour. Then we went shopping and found a huge shopping centre – Mick needed a new watch. He always does when we go away, I’m only surprised that his old one lasted this long. We had just come out to the car when we heard shouting and there was a suntanned person with a big waddy chasing another and shouting abuse. Then from just near us a young man in shorts and tee shirt shouted “Put down that stick!” in a very strong voice. He repeated it twice more, then said, “I am a police officer, put down that stick,” and walked up and took the stick and the offender shambled off without a peep. Bravest act I’ve ever seen.

Pretty Pool

After lunch we decided to check out Pretty Pool that we had been told about. We made all the expected jokes about the effect our appearance would have on the place, opposites attract etc. What a disappointment. It was just a pool at the end of a creek near the sea and it was part of a mangrove swamp – not even vaguely like we were imagining it to be. Our drive continued around the coast and down to where the trains bring in the ore. There is a network of  lines that looked like a roller coaster that had been built with a giant Meccano set.  Several empty trains were on the rails along the coastline. They were each more than a km long. And there were huge piles of reddish brown ore. When we got back to camp one of our neighbours told us about lots of good places to visit on our journey north. That’s the good thing about not having a set plan, every day has a surprise ending.

A Bit Of Rough

Thurs 26^th June

As we were packing up to continue our journey the boys told us that the road ahead is a bit rough in places – A BIT ROUGH – that was an understatement. The corrugations were horrific and there were big rocks everywhere. Amongst that were ridges of sand that had heaped up between the wheel tracks. The road was quite wide so there were wheel marks everywhere where other people have tried to find the best way through.  There were quite a few mine vehicles on the road, all with one occupant and always going at least twice as fast as us. A lot of the country was flat, but there was still the odd rocky gorge at our side and rolling hills in the distance. When we finally got to some bitumen we let out a big cheer, we had all had enough jolting around and eating dust for a while.  

 

In the final part of our trip we saw six Rio Tinto trains carrying iron ore from the Pilbara into the port at Dampier. Each train had 160 carriages and was about 2km long. Luckily we didn’t meet any of them at a level crossing. We got to Dampier more or less in one piece, had lunch at the beach and then went in to Karratha where we got an oil change and new filters in the Rodeo.  We ended up camping out at West Peawah River free camp about 140km north of Karratha. Both of our vans had their full quota of dust inside – actually ours only had a thin dusting in the van but the spaces under the beds were full of it.

Hamersley Gorge

Wed 25^th June

Jan and George left Paraburdoo early to get into Tom Price to go on a mine tour.  We left later and met them there. We drove up to Hamersley Gorge which has a really good viewing platform that is newly constructed. From it we could see several beautiful rock pools of varying sizes and three waterfalls that linked them. The walls of the gorge towered above them with their layers of colour.  We then went to a picnic area where we were told there was an internet hotspot so I thought I would have a go. It has been several days since we have had any internet or phone connections, so who would expect to find one out in the middle of nowhere with no houses or any sign of habitation or civilization other than the road and the lookout. Sure enough, it worked. 

 

 We had planned to go back through the Karijini National Park and get across to the highway to Port Hedland, but when we were nearly at Hamersley we saw a sign that pointed straight ahead to Dampier. We decided to give it a go, even though we couldn’t find the road on our map. The first part was the scariest, particularly when you are towing caravans.  It was a winding single vehicle road that went right down into and along the Gorge – absolutely beautiful, and then it opened up to a wide dirt road that was in very good condition. After some time a car approached from the other way so we flagged it down and the driver gave us directions. The first part of them worked ok, until we got past Wittenoom, a town that was abandoned because of the asbestos. We hear that people up here think it is just a token measure because the gorges and everywhere else up here are full of asbestos.  We drove for ages and came to a couple of T intersections where we had to take our best guess. Nothing was marked or signposted so we could have been anywhere. None of it appeared on any of our maps – actually there was one sign to a town but that wasn’t on any of the maps.

 

By this time it was getting late in the afternoon when we saw a sign for a farm stay at Mt Florance Station and decided to go there.  About fifty km later we came to the next sign that said we only had 5km to go. Eventually we got there and set up camp.  Mick got out his gas thingo that we couldn’t get a part for and had another go at it. Eventually a young chap came and started to help, but had no more idea than Mick or George. Then his mate came over and he turned out to be a diesel mechanic. The first bloke told us he is studying law at uni, so you can imagine the length and depth of the advice we gave him. George, with his great flair for descriptive language, told all of his best experiences with lawyers.  Both guys were goggle-eyed.  Between them they managed to get the fitting together, but you can imagine our trepidation when it was attached to the gas and lit. The first time a sheet of flame blasted out, but with a bit more adjustment it worked perfectly (we hope!) Actually it was far too warm to even consider using a heater.

Paraburdoo

Mon 23^rd June

 
 
 
 

Today the sky was still overcast but it didn’t rain. We travelled with varying degrees of wind in our faces, on our side and even behind us for a short distance. After the turn off toward Tom Price the country changed dramatically.  There were rocky hills, some pointed and some with flat tops. Mostly we drove through valleys surrounded by ranges and there were many places where we could see gorges going back between them and caves in their sides. At one stage a fox stood at the side of the road and watched us pass. For the whole journey we didn’t see a single house, although there were a few signs on tracks leading to stations. The most surprising thing was how green the trees were and how much spinifex there was. There was hardly any bare ground. When we stopped for lunch we met up with a couple who had just come from Paraburdoo and they said how good it was there, so we decided to give it a go. It is a mining town and the caravan park is new and has been set up primarily to house the fly in fly out workers. There are long dongers set up on most of the sites and there are about 40 sites for caravans.  We had to book in with the mining company and it is only $25 per night (a bit different to the coast) There is a free laundry where even the washing powder is supplied and the ablution block is spotless.

Tues 24^th June

We went into Paraburdoo to the library to get information and maps of the national park. There were about 30 pre-schoolers in there participating in a play group. We were surprised that there were so many young children in such a small town but were told that the average age of the town population is 10 – imagine that! We needed a bit for our gas heater and had to go to Tom Price to look for it. Tom Price is the highest town in W.A. From there we went out to the Karijini, the second largest national park in W.A., and were entranced by the scenery on the way out. It was so varied with tall crumbly looking hills made up of layers of flat sided rocks with lots of caves in them. Then there were more rounded hills covered in grass. There were lots of wattles coming into flower, purple flowers on straight stems about a metre high, bright red flowering hakeas and lots more. We thought we had discovered a new type of cockatoo that is a reddish brown colour until we realised that they were actually white cockatoos covered in dust. And it got even better in the park - canyons, pools, and a waterfall. We ran out of time to visit the fern pool and some of the other canyons.

Coral Coast

Sat 21^st June

Today we saw a fantastic blowhole, when we drove out along the coast from Carnarvon for about 70km and found the most remarkable piece of coast at Quobba. Our first sight was a huge overhead sign “KING WAVES KILL” and a little further along was a lifebuoy.  Then there was the most amazing shaft of water shooting high in the air to the sound of thunder.  The information suggested that they can get to 20 metres high and I think it was pretty close to that today. Actually the whole area was a big rock platform with caves under it and the monstrous waves that were coming in were being forced up out of the holes and cracks in the rocks above. It was an awe inspiring sight.

 

We came back out onto the highway again and found a camp site at about lunch time and decided to stay the night and go into Coral Bay tomorrow, spend the day there and then camp out somewhere on the road to Exmouth.  Our camp was very flat and sandy with a couple of shaded tables and a clean bush toilet. It also had a fireplace with wood in it but it was much too warm for a fire. We spent some time watching a long line of processional caterpillars walking along nose to tail and were fascinated by their organisation when one of their members was removed from the line. They seem to have a strong communication system and mill around until find each other again and resume their walk.

Sun 22^nd June

All good plans go awry. Through the night it started to rain. Mick said that the wind really blew up but I slept through. He said it was so gusty that he considered lowering the roof. In the morning it was still raining, not heavily, but constantly and it continued that way for the entire day. We went into Coral Bay and were a bit disappointed. Thirty seven years ago when we were there we thought it was a beautiful unspoiled beach with a friendly pub at the end. Now the foreshore is crammed with caravan parks and commercial signs about boat tours and swimming with whale sharks. The beach still looked good, but the weather wasn’t conducive to enjoying that. You could only get a glimpse of it from the car park. We decided to cut our losses and continue on to Exmouth. We visited Jan when she lived there in the 1970’s, so we were all looking forward to seeing the place again. We thought we would book into somewhere for a couple of days so that we could tour around – at $49 per night!! Not likely!!  So we drove around towing our caravans. Jan’s old house is no longer, a school is now on the site. The town was unrecognisable apart from the Pot Shot Hotel that is still there, and the naval base that still looks the same apart from the stars and stripes poles by the roads and the American flag that are no longer there. We decided we would be disappointed by Yardie Creek in this weather and left town to find a free camp area about 100 or so km away. We weren’t the only people there who objected to the prices in Exmouth. There were several others at the site who had done the same thing. There was one group in a small tent – a mother, six kids between 6 and 13 and two dogs. Her daughter said they had been on the road for 5 months. And the woman didn’t even look frazzled.

Carnarvon

Thurs 19^th June 

 

Today’s aim was to get to Carnarvon so that George could get his satellite dish set up properly and we could get our caravan’s electrical system checked because the solar panels haven’t been keeping up when we free camp for 3 days in a row. Jan and Les used to come to Carnarvon to shop when they lived in Exmouth and she said that they never really had a look around. After today she said, “Now I know why we only came here for the shopping.” We had a terrible time finding the Information centre, even though we had the address in the Navman, and then when we did there was nowhere to park a caravan. The streets are narrow and there is only angle parking. Eventually we found a street we could fit in and then hiked back to the centre. When we have to go into a caravan park we usually get all the information about prices and facilities and then make our choice; but here, the caravan park owners don’t want to divulge that information because the opposition will know about them. Can you believe it? Eventually we found a reasonable, but not flash park and booked in. Jan came with us for a drive around the food square. The entire area is full of lush fruit and vegetable crops and there are a few farms that have shops. For a very good price we bought fresh vegies and a lettuce that would barely fit in the fridge. Our batteries were tested and found to be good and tomorrow we have booked in with an auto electrician for the next stage. A bloke was coming in half an hour to check George’s dish. Five hour later he still hasn’t arrived.

Fri 20^th June

This morning Mick and I went for a drive to have a look at the old wharf built in the 1800s. It was built many years ago, is a mile long, and was used for loading sheep and cattle. There was a railway line that ran from town and along the pier. Now the only rails are on the pier and you can have a train ride out to the end of it. I went for the ride in a Thomas The Tank Engine lookalike and enjoyed the variety of country it crossed. About the first third was mangrove swamp which obviously gets inundated when the tide comes in. The next bit was just mud flats and then sand and the final third was over water.  The water at the end of the pier is about 30 metres deep and very clear. When I got to the end there were a few blokes fishing and one had just pulled up and emperor. Immediately the others all moved to the same spot. Just as we were leaving another one was pulling up a fish.

In the afternoon we got our wiring problem sorted and are now under full power again. Unfortunately George wasn’t so lucky with his satellite dish. He thinks he might do better in a town where there is poor TV reception and there may be someone who is able to help him. Just before tea a bloke came along and gave us a corn cob each. We ate ours with our dinner and it was sweet and juicy. Then we followed up with locally grown pawpaw.

Shark Bay and Monkey Mia

Tues 17^th June 

Shark Bay is one of the world’s few places that satisfies all four of the natural criteria to be listed as a world heritage area – Natural beauty, Earth’s evolutionary history (stromatolites) Ecological Processes (ongoing geological process – the largest seagrass banks in the world) and Biological Diversity (important habitats where threatened animal species still survive.)

Dirk Hartog Island is where Dirk Hartog landed in 1616 and nailed an engraved pewter plate to a post. It was later replaced with another and the original returned to Holland. There is a replica in the Shark Bay Discovery Centre at Denham. In 1964 the first Gemini space capsule was to be tracked across Australia using the Carnarvon tracking station, but just before lift-off lightning vaporised a few metres of the phone line. Fortunately the old Morse code link was still intact and Lillian O’Donahue spent 4 hours relaying important information backwards and forwards through Hamelin Pool until the line was fixed.

 Mick and I set off early to get to Monkey Mia, about 75 km from home. Jan & Gorge weren’t up when we left. We saw two sessions of feeding and there were about a dozen or more dolphins there. Several spectators were there; some with the legs of their pants rolled up to their knees and then going in up to their thighs. On the second feeding there weren’t many people and we had a great view from the pier on which we stood. The dolphins were swimming right under us. After that we went and sat on some comfy padded chairs outside the resort, no doubt looking like millionaires, with our feet up and watched even more dolphins swimming around. Jan and George got there later and were amused by an emu terrorising a Japanese family. Everywhere they walked, it walked and everywhere they ran it ran.

 

We then went into Denham, Australia’s most westerly town and had some lunch. Denham is near where HMAS Sydney went down and there is a memorial in town on which all the names of those who perished are written on blue perspex.  In one shop in Denham was a sign “When a mosquito lands on your testicle you realise that problems aren’t always best solved with violence.” 

We headed back towards camp exploring the side tracks along the way. The water in the bays ranged from deep, dark navy blue to aqua and even emerald green depending on the angle of and amount of sun shining. The sand went from deep red through lots of shades of orange and yellow to nearly white. At one bay the water was so clear that when the sun was shining we could see a giant sting ray from the lookout above. There have been warnings of horrific storms down the coast to the south although we are only tipped to be on the edge with some wind and maybe a shower. 

By the time we got back to the van the wind was starting to pick up – not even a stiff breeze yet, and the sky was clouded over with black clouds to the south west.

Wed 18^th June

We drove down to have a go at Useless Loop which is the road that leads to Steep Point – Mainland’s most western point. We had been warned that the road was terrible and really only fit for 4WD. Still, you know us! We went about 20km on a new bitumen road towards a homestead 43 km in so we thought we’d at least reach that. Then we read that you needed a permit which came with a key to open the locked gate to get in.  While we discussed this, the road turned to a wide dirt road that hadn’t long been graded, then it got a bit worse and so on.  Next we noticed a huge black cloud heading towards us from the South West so we turned back and went to Hamelin instead and drank coffee on their veranda while we watched the rain. When it eased we headed back to camp to find that the sky was blue again and there had only been a couple of drops of rain there. After lunch we went for a dip in the hot artesian pool and again we had it to ourselves.  After dinner we went up to the community area and enjoyed the campfire while all the rugby fans watched the state of origin game on the TV in the undercover area.

Nanga Bay

Mon 16^th June 

It was only a short drive to the Shark Bay Area and we booked into Nanga Bay Resort for three nights. It is in a beautiful location in a sheltered position on the beach. It contains a shop, a range of accommodation options, pool, tennis court, volleyball court and a 28 person hot artesian pool. Guess where Mick and I spent quite a bit of the afternoon? It was lovely and warm and we were the only ones there.  Jan and George spent the time trying to line up their dish with a satellite. A bloke tried to help by using his nifty black box thing that is supposed to make it easy. It is still not working. For dinner we went to the restaurant for a fisherman’s basket and salad which we had to order early in the day. Unfortunately some of the components hadn’t been ordered in so the manager asked if we would mind having one that contained what they had – a large piece of fish, battered prawns (2), crumbed prawns (2), lovely thick calamari (3), chips and a huge salad with balsamic dressing – the biggest meal I have ever attempted, and then she brought out another bowl of prawns – all for $18.50.

Galena Bridge Campsite

Sun 15^th June 

This campsite beside the river was so pleasant, the sky was blue and the sun was bright and warm so we decided to have an R&R day. We spent the whole day enjoying the beautiful weather. Most of the other vans departed, leaving about 8 or 10 van sites occupied. I did some embroidery, Jan read, George watched videos and Mick  pottered around putting his pig together, sitting in the sun, strolling around and chatting to other campers. In the early afternoon more people started to arrive, including a group of three bike riders and their support crew. They are riding from the most westerly to the most easterly point of Australia to raise money for kids in the Congo. They were fairly sore when they got here. I heard one mutter, “Three days down, 39 to go.”  It has taken us longer than that just to get to here and we are in a car.  After cooking dinner on the pig and sitting around it for a couple of hours we went to bed toasty warm.

Kalbarrie

Sat 14^th June 

We travelled back along an even better dirt road until we met the coast road and then we drove towards Kalbarrie. Along the way were side roads leading to stunning coastal views, each a little different from the others. Each one was easily accessible for the caravan to park and turn around and there was a range of different marked walks you could do. At one spot we saw four humpback whales breaching with their huge splashes. Once again there was a wide variety of coastal vegetation in flower. There are so many different colours and many of the flowers are quite big.

In Kalbarrie National Park we unhooked our vans and travelled the loop road that was made for the first 11km and dirt for the other 17 or so. Once again the lookouts have been well developed with good parking areas, toilets, well-formed walking tracks and lookout platforms. We looked out on the canyons with the Murchison River (the second longest river in W.A.) winding below. This was once the sea bed. In the sides of the cliffs we saw lots of caves and holes you could see through. After collecting our caravans we drove back to the Coastal Highway and found an excellent camp site on the Murchison River at Galena Bridge. There are lots of other vans in this free campsite but there is plenty of room, the toilets are clean and have paper, and there are lots of concrete tables and benches and fireplaces.

Hutt River Province

Fri 13^th June   

 
 

 
 
 

After a quiet day yesterday, while George had his car serviced, we left Geraldton and headed north through the Chapman Valley that was dotted with flat topped hills.  At Northampton we stopped at The Old Store, a drapery shop selling new merchandise, which is still run along similar lines as the ones we had when we were kids.   The displays were of a similar nature, with a big range of rubber boots and hats up on the high shelf. Another section was dedicated to wool. Jan and I marvelled over the range of wools and colours available. There were even some skeins. There were racks of clothes, crockery and cutlery, post cards, jewellery, hats, saddles, holsters and in the back room was a collection of sewing machines dating from the late 1800s. It was the kind of shop in which you could browse for hours and it was run by a lady who was happy to chat for as long as we stayed. She didn’t even try to sell us anything.

 

 

Our next stop was Port Gregory where there was a lake that really was pink – bright pink. Along one side was a factory where the beta carotene is extracted. We had lunch near the beach which is protected by a long coral reef that is about 500 metres out from shore, thereby providing quite a protected bay which I am sure would be full of fish.

 

 We then headed off towards Kalbarrie, but turned off along a wide dirt road and ended up in the Hutt River Provence. Prince Leonard greeted us and gave us a tour through the buildings and gave Jan and me permission to sit on Princess Shirley’s throne in the chapel. She died late last year and he has dedicated the chapel, some postage stamps, a book or two and some other things to her memory. In the souvenir room there are many letters, pictures and other objects that are from famous people, politicians and foreign dignitaries.  There are paintings by Pro Hart and one by Prince Charles. We decided to stay in the camping ground that is part of the property. For $10 we had a hot shower, toilets and a campfire and there was also a camp kitchen. There were only three other campers there and we shared the campfire with two other lots. Would you believe that one of the blokes, Bob Croft, was a cook in the navy with Mick?  Neither recognised the other, until they said their names.  There was quite a lot of reminiscing around the campfire as they caught up with what their old shipmates are doing now and told stories of the past. Although the campfire was quite big, the surround was a big truck rim and the heat couldn’t get out. By the time we went to bed our faces were warm and the rest of us was absolutely frigid. Even Mick complained and not only turned on his electric blanket but had an extra blanket as well.

Geraldton

 Tues 10^th June 

Although we only had a short distance to travel today it was nevertheless a constantly changing landscape. We passed through rich pastures, olive groves and were fascinated by the leaning trees.

They have obviously had to withstand constant wind to end up so bent over. In fact we had quite a stiff breeze behind us for most of the trip. We stopped in Dongara and were impressed by the old buildings, in particular one that might have been a flour mill in a past life but is now undergoing renovation. In Geraldton it started to rain and rain and rain and progressively get cooler. We booked into a park a little north of town for the next three nights. George is getting his car serviced on Thursday. I contacted Barb Stoney, a friend who used to work with me in Shepparton. It’s a while since we have had any contact, so I’m looking forward to catching up tomorrow.

Wed 11^th

It was great catching up with Barb again and we couldn’t remember how many years it has been since we last met. She is living in a comfortable unit that is attached to her job looking after students, some of them international, some doing schooling as part of apprenticeships. She is required seven days a week and does things like transport them to/from the airport, wash their bed linen and must always know who is on campus. She was looking after her grandson while her daughter, who is being delivered of a baby tomorrow, visited the doctor.

We then had a drive around town, visiting the HMAS Sydney memorial which is a very beautiful and meaningful memorial to those who went down on her. It is made up of a large dome which is covered in 645 seagulls, representing the spirit of each man lost. There is also a memorial board listing their names. Our Uncle Lindsay was meant to be on her but was unable to get back on board from leave when she departed unexpectedly from Melbourne. He was very lucky to miss the boat that day. There is also a moving statue of a waiting woman scanning the sea in vain for the return of loved ones.

Along the foreshore is a small sandy area which has large emu egg shapes in it. The tops of them have been decorated in mosaics by women of the local indigenous community.

Eneabba

Mon 9^th June

Our first visit was to the Pinnacles - What amazing formations. The limestone of the Pinnacles came from seashells that were broken down into lime rich sands which were blown inland to form high mobile dunes. It is believed that they have a history of being covered and uncovered by sands over many thousands of years and that they were last uncovered was about 6000 years ago. There is a good drive around them and a viewing platform so that you can see how vast the area is that they cover.



Our next stop was Cervantes where we had a lobster lunch (how decadent!) and then we went down to Lake Thetis and walked along the boardwalk to see the stromatolites which are oxygen producers that look like sand bubbles and are one of the oldest known living organisms.  It is estimated the lake became isolated from the sea about 4800 years ago when sea levels dropped and coastal dunes formed. The lake is one of only a few places in the world with living marine stromatolites.  The microbes that build them are similar to those found in 3500, which are the earliest record of life on Earth. They look like rocky lumps and have been dated to about 3370 years old.

 Our final stop for the day was a caravan park at Eneabba . The trouble was it wasn’t a caravan park at all, but a garage, RAC agent and roadhouse and shouldn’t have been in the Camps 7 book. Anyway all’s well that ends well. The friendly owners Phil and Deanna put us in their backyard, provided showers toilet and electricity.  They then locked the gate and gave us a key to get in and out. We felt we should eat there so we had a hamburger each – quite the best we’ve had in many years, and a really nice mug of coffee.  We sat in their dining room and ate it as we watched the news on their telly. You meet such friendly, generous people when you are on the road.

Moore River Bridge

Sun 8^th  June

With lots of hugs, kisses and a few tears our group disbanded. Woody and Treas are going to Wave Rock and back to Esperance and Jan and Bernie are going to Perth for a few days. Jan, George, Mick and I headed out to go north. We had a good run through Perth on the freeway and only got held up briefly in a couple of places where the number of lanes reduced. We were quite impressed with how the train line went along the middle of the freeway.  Through the exchange of many texts we were able to meet up with Peta and Gerry, friends we made on last year’s cruise.   We called into their house at Two Rocks and enjoyed lunch with them. It was like old times sitting around the table and chatting and laughing. It was lucky we were able to get the timing right because later this week they are heading off for a 7 week trip of Russia, Siberia, Mongolia and other places we’ve never heard of. We ended up staying at Moore River Bridge camp spot, a free camp with a toilet, tables and a lovely stainless steel electric barbecue that turns on (you can see the light) but it doesn’t heat.  A young Dutch couple who have been living in New Zealand for the last three years pulled up near us and spent a while chatting with us. They are living in their car and are travelling around the country in the opposite direction to us.

 

Margaret River

Sat 7^th  June 
 
 

 

 
 
 

Our challenge for the day was to tour from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin. It was a bit blustery and the sea was grey and wild, so we enjoyed visiting many different scenic attractions with views of waves crashing onto rocks – sights that you never get sick of.  On a shop, in the “B” of an advertisement, we saw some fascinating graffiti, it reminded us of an old favourite of ours from a Morwell River shelter – Karen Bellman.  We’ve been wondering about Bella ever since and have invented plenty of back stories. There was also a clever house name, "Far Canal" (say it aloud).  When we got to Hamlyn Bay we stopped and had a sausage sizzle for lunch. Hamlyn Bay is an area where the stingray is a protected species - not that we were any threat to its survival. The Margaret River area is full of wineries that obviously charge top price judging by their flash entrances and the huge buildings with park-like gardens. We decided to give them a miss, although we did visit a cheese factory and sample their bland, rubbery cheese.